Mall Shootout in Salt Lake City 39 replies

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SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (AP) -- A trench coat-clad teenager who opened fire on shoppers at a mall had one thing in mind: "to kill a large number of people."
And he likely would have killed more than five had an off-duty officer not confronted him, Salt Lake City's police chief said Tuesday.
"There is no question that [the officer's] quick action saved the lives of numerous other people," Chief Chris Burbank said.
Burbank identified the gunman as Sulejmen Talovic, an 18-year-old who lives with his mother in Salt Lake City, and said he had a backpack full of ammunition, the shotgun he was using and a .38-caliber pistol. (Watch police detail the shooter's steps)
The teen killed five people and wounded four at the Trolley Square mall, including two people shot in the parking lot as he arrived around 7 p.m. Monday, another at the entrance and then five people inside a card store, Burbank said.
"It appears to be very random," he said. "There was no sense to why he was doing what he was doing.
"The suspect in this particular circumstance had one thing on his mind, and that was to kill a large number of people."
Had the off-duty Ogden police officer, who had a gun but no extra equipment or additional ammunition, not gone after the gunman, the teenager likely would have continued shooting people on his way through the mall, Burbank said.
Police know little about the young man so far.
The card store Cabin Fever had been packed with Valentine's Day shoppers Monday night when the shooting started, store owner David Dean said.
Dean said his assistant manager called him, saying "someone's in the store killing people." The place was "all shot up," Dean said. He said three or four of the victims were shot inside. (Watch witnesses recount gunshots, carnage)
As investigators began interviewing the 100 to 200 witnesses, people placed candles and flowers at two memorials outside the mall for the victims. Business owners surveyed the damage, and shoppers who had fled returned to pick up cars they had to leave parked overnight.
Shooter seemed "an average Joe"

Marie Smith, 23, a Bath & Body Works manager, said she had seen the gunman through the store window. She watched as he raised his gun and fired at a young woman approaching him from behind.
"His expression stayed totally calm. He didn't seem upset, or like he was on a rampage," said Smith, who crawled to an employee restroom to hide with others. He looked like "an average Joe," she said.
The victims were identified as Jeffrey Walker, 52, Vanessa Quinn, 29, Kirsten Hinkley, 15, Teresa Ellis, 29, and Brad Frantz, 24. Four people were hospitalized -- a 44-year-old woman and a 53-year-old man in critical condition, and a 34-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy in serious condition.
For hours after the rampage, police searched stores for scared, shocked shoppers and employees who were hunkered down awaiting a safe escort.
Matt Lund was visiting his wife, Barbara, manager of the Secret Garden children's clothing store, when he heard the first shots. The couple and three others hid in a storage room for about 40 minutes, isolated but still able to hear the violence.
"We heard them say 'Police! Drop your weapon!' Then we heard shotgun fire. Then there was a barrage of gunfire," said Lund, 44. "It was hard to believe."
Witnesses said officers treated everyone like suspects -- ordering those hiding in storerooms, bathrooms or under stairwells, to lie on the floor with their hands on their heads until police were sure no one posed a threat.
On the way out, Lund said, he saw a woman's body face-down at the entrance to Pottery Barn Kids and a man's body on the floor in the mall's east-west corridor. "There were a lot of blown-out store windows and shotgun shell casings all over the floor," Lund said. "It was quite surreal."
The victims were found throughout the 239,000-square-foot shopping mall.
Outside, streets were blocked as police swarmed the four-block scene. Dozens of people lingered on the sidewalk, many wrapped in blankets, as they talked about what they had seen inside.
Four police officers -- the off-duty officer from Ogden and three Salt Lake City officers -- were involved in the shootout with the gunman, Snyder said. She provided no other details.
The two-story mall, southeast of downtown, is a refurbished trolley barn built in 1908, with a series of winding hallways, brick floors, wrought-iron balconies and about 80 stores, including high-end retailers such as Williams-Sonoma and restaurants such as the Hard Rock Cafe.
It was purchased in August by Scanlan Kemper Bard Cos. of Portland, Oregon, from Simon Property Group for $38.6 million. The company said it planned to invest $80 million, attract a new anchor tenant and possibly add condominiums.
"We are devastated and shocked by this senseless, random act of violence and tragedy at Trolley Square, owner Tom Bard said in a statement posted on the KSL-TV Web site.
"At this time our greatest concern and prayers are with the victims, their families and loved ones."

So wait... this is Bush's fault? Because he "cut spending spending for the mentally ill."? (Do you even have a link for that?) What, does the government have to be responsible for everything today? What about the private sector?

The private sector only contribuates to the problem. I honestly think that at least 95% of the medical issues in America would be fixed if we nationilized the healthcare system. Right now it pays to do a half assed job and keep the problem at bay instead of fix it. If the government has to pay for it you will bet they will try and fix it or better yet stop it before it starts.

I think social security or healthcare is a good method if you'd want to reduce shootings in the US. Government programs aren't very efficient, but it wouldn't be so difficult to top the efficiency of other American government-projects (like the Iraq-war) and it'd actually be good for the American people.

so is the shooter dead or in custody? If in custody, has he given a reason yet?
I guarentee you it has something to do with him not having a valentine or somethin. I mean, I hate valentines day, but killing over it!?
and its not bushes fault this happened. I dont like him, but I still dont blame him for this

I live less than an hour away from DC. I have a good idea what kind of people are there. Have you ever walked around there at night? its not bushes fault.
lets not make this a political argument though please.

Because the mentally ill randomly go and kill people. The kid wasn't mentally ill, he was corrupted by the vice and corruption of American society. You know America is defintly going to fall as world power soon but it has nothing to do with our foreign policy, it is for the exact same reason Rome fell, the decay of society.

American society sucks balls. If only someone would combine the freedom of America with the disciplined society of China, I would be a happy man.

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